Harlem Shake Time!

This Tuesday’s Game of the Week is more like an event. By now, most of you have seen a plethora of Harlem Shake videos, so we figured, why not make one with your leaders and students!

Though it’s probably a bit late to become a YouTube sensation, considering there are a million of these videos out there, it’s not to late to have a little fun and a good laugh with your group. All it takes is a little planning and very minimal editing.

You can also find a list of other top Harlem Shake videos from Billboard here.

First off, you’ll need to find a location and plan a time where everyone will be together. I recommend using the end of an already pre-established meeting time to save you the headache of trying to gather everyone.

At that point, you’ll need to set up a video camera. Make sure it is stationary and in the exact same position for the “before” and “after”. The “before” shot should include a minimal amount of people doing something relatively mundane (but make sure you have somewhere to go with the video!). The “after” needs to be filled with people doing crazy, unique or even weird things. Include costumes, dance moves, animals and other oddities to make the video creative and interesting for your group and the viewer.

The beauty is that these scenes only need to be about 15 seconds each, but you’ll still want to film it a few times to make sure you captured your shot. If you’re able to blare the music for people to hear, that works better- just make sure to remove the audio from video and dub the song over the top of it, otherwise it will sound muffled and cheesy.

When you have your shots, splice them together, remove the audio and dub in the music. When it’s all mixed, upload it to YouTube and post it like crazy on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. I guarantee your students will love it and parents will probably roll there eyes!

BONUS TIPS

1. If you don’t feel like you can pull off the editing for the video, ask another leader or a student. Most kids today are pretty adept at this kind of stuff.

2. Promote, promote, promote! We’re having a 70’s night later this month, so we’re filming our video at the end of the night. I’ve told some of our students and they’re pretty excited about it already. Make sure to get the word out about what you’re doing, it will make a big difference and hopefully create a buzz.

I hope that you and your group produce the next YouTube hit, but if not, make sure you at least have a ton of fun putting your video together. Remember, it’s the memories that count!

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